Police-leader.



No. 863,298. I PATENTED AUG. 13, 1907. J, MALCOLM. POLICE LEADER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAIL'I. 1907.

WITNESSES N VE N T05 ATTORNEYS JAMES MALCOLM, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

POLICE-LEADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1907.

Application filed March 1,1907. Serial No- 360,078.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .lknns MALCOLM, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Police-Leader, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in leaders or nippers used bypolice officers to grasp and hold the wrists of prisoners for thepurpose of conducting them from place to place and to apply pressure tothe wrists in case the prisoners prove refractory, and consists ofcertain peculiar mechanisms for operating the jaws of the device, forlocking said jaws upon the wrist, and for applying pressure to thelatter, together with such subsidiary and auxiliary parts and members asmay be required in making said invention practicable and eflicient, allas hereinafter set forth.

The objects of my invention are, first, to produce a strong, durable andquick-acting device, of the class specified, which can be easily andquickly applied to a Wrist of any size and, when locked, will securelyhold the wrist; second, to provide simple and convenient locking andunlocking mechanism for such a device, mechanism which when locked issafe and secure; third, to afford means whereby the accidental lockingof the jaws, or the locking of the same before they have been closed astightly upon the wrist as may be desired, is obviated, and, fourth, tofurnish the leader with a positive and powerful pressure appliance. Iattain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation in partial section of myleader, the jaws being shown closed to their fullest extent; Fig. 2, alongitudinal horizontal section through the lock-case, the parts shownbeing disposed as in the preceding view; Fig. 3, a transverse verticalsection of said leader as shown in the first view, and, Fig. 4, a sideelevation of the leader as it appears when open or with the jawsseparated.

Similar figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be observed that I provide aspindle 6 having a cross-bar or handle 7 at its outer end, and that Iloosely mount on this spindle a sliding member 8 to which two jaws 9 and10 are pivoted at l111. The spindle 6 and the slide 8 are arranged inmutual reciprocal relation to each other, that is, the former can slidein the latter and the latter can slide on the former; furthermore, saidspindle is permitted to rotate in said slide. At the lower end of theslide 8 are two laterally extending finger-pieces, horns or grips 12,and within the upper part of said slide is a slot 13 into which thecontiguous terminals of the jaws 9 and 10 are received, also adouble-rack sleeve 14. The upper portion of the spindle 6 isscrew-threaded at 15 and the rack sleeve 14 is mounted on suchscrewthreaded portion in threaded engagement therewith. 011 the upper orinner end of the spindle is a cap or presser-piece 16 designed to bearagainst the wrist when brought into use in the manner presently tobedescribed. The inner ends of the jaws 9 and 10 are in the form ofsegment-gears 1717 the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of the racks18-18 on opposite sides of the sleeve 14.

At the free terminal of the jaw 9 is a lock-chamber or -case 19 and atthe free terminal of the jaw 10 is a tongue 20 having three notches 21,more or less, in its upper edge. The arrangement of parts is such thatwhen the jaws 9 and 10 approach each other the tongue 20 enters thelock-case 19. A spiral-spring 22 encircles the spindle 6 between thehandle 7 and the adjacent end of the slide 8. The tendency of the spring22 is to force the handle 7 and the slide 8 away from each other and socause the jaws to turn inward on their pivots 11 and approach each otherat their free or locking terminals and retain said jaws in this theirclosed position, owing to the fact that the members 6 and 8 slide freelyone upon or in the other while the sleeve 14. is longitudinally movablewith the spindle and has its racks 18 in engagement with thesegmentgears 17.

The lock mechanism is described as follows: Within the case 19 is a pin23 fixed in the back side thereof and extending forward across theopening in said case. Sliding-1y and revolubly mounted on this pin 23 isa push-piece or head 24 of a latch 25. A spiral-spring 2G encircles thepin 23 between the rear end of the head 24 and the adjacent side of thecase 19 and tends to force said head with its latch 25 forward. Thefront end of the head 24 protrudes from the front face of the lock-case.The free end of the latch 25 is provided with a downwardly extendinghook or projection 27 which is adapted to entereither of the notches 21in the tongue 20. A flat spring 28 is interposed between the upper edgeof the latch 25 and the top of the lock-case to press said latchdownward. On the inside face of the front wall of the case 19 is a ledgeor lug 29 which is adapted to receive the latch projection 27 and holdit up out of the path of the tongue 20. The tongue 20 is cut away alongthe front side near the top between the notches 21, as shown at 30, toenable said tongue to pass the lug 29. A key-hole 31 is made in the backside of the case 19 for the in sertion of a key (not shown) for thepurpose of unlocking the jaws, as will be presently explained.

The leader mechanism, when ready for use, is disposed very much as itappears in the first view, except that the latch 25 is in its forwardposition against the front wall of the lock-case with its lockingprojection 27 resting on top of the lug 29, and when the parts are thusarranged the operation is as follows: With the handle 7 and the grips 12in one hand press said handle and the slide 8 toward each other, againstthe resiliency of the springs 22, until'the jaws 9 and 10 are spreadapart or opened, substantially as shown in Fig. 4, slip them onto thewrist of the prisoner, release the sliding members to said spring, whichlatter immediately acts to close said jaw upon said wrist, and finallywith the thumb or finger of the other hand press inward the head 24,against the resiliency of the spring 26, to force the latch 25 backwardand thus disengage the projection 27 from the lug 29 when saidprojection rides on the upper edge of the tongue 20, under the downwardpressure exerted by the spring 28 on said latch, and enters one of thenotches 21, a sufficient amount of play between the lock-case and thetongue being produced during this time, as will be more fully explainedhereinafter, to bring about such engagement except when the projectionenters a notch immediately upon being forced off of said lug.

The several operations just described occur very quickly on account ofthe peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, and theprisoners wrist is securely and tightly held by the leader which is nowlocked and remains locked until the latch is raised out of engagementwith the tongue by means of a key inserted in the key-hole 31. Whenunlocked the latch is pushed forward by the spring 26 and the projection27 comes to rest on the lug 29, thus leaving the leader in readiness forsubsequent use without further manipulation except that by which thespring 22 is compressed.

It should be stated, perhaps, in connection with the precedingparagraph, that there is sufficient power in the spring 28 to overcomethe frictional resistance offered by the spring 26 to the downwardmovement of the latch 25 after being forced back to enable itsprojection 27 to clear the lug 29, so that said spring 25 instantlyrocks said latch down into operative position.

It will be understood from the foregoing that there is no liability ofthe leader becoming locked by accident at a critical moment, as would beapt to be the case were no provision made for keeping the latch out ofthe way of the tongue except when released by the operator, anoccurrence which would be fatal in many instances to the utility of thedevice. This is an important and valuable feature of my invention.

Should a prisoner become refractory while his wrist is in the grasp ofthe leader, the presser-piece 16 can be applied to the wrist withwhatever force may be necessary by simply turning the handle 7 to theright which action causes the spindle 6 to move upward in the sleeve 14which is now held stationary by the locked jaws and the engaging toothedmembers. The nature of the engaging screw-threads on the spindle 6 andin the sleeve 14 provides for all the travel necessary of the former inthe latter within about one-fourth turn of the handle 7, so that anyrequired thrust of the spindle and the Presser-piece 16 is within therange of movement of the hand holding the leader without letting gothereof. Pressure on the wrist is released by simply turning the handlein the opposite direction to screw the upper threaded terminal of thehandle into the sleeve.

After unlocking the leader it is opened in the same manner as before,that is, by forcing toward each other the parts separated by the spring22, and removed from the wrist; then said spring is permitted to closethe jaws again so that the leader can be conveniently carried in thepocket, but it is not locked. Thus it will be seen that the leader isnormally compact and of suitable shape to be carried upon the person ofthe policeman or other ofiicer.

The jaws are enabled to be spread wide apart at their upper ends withvery little movement on the part of the sleeve owing to theshortness ofthe radii of the segment-gears, and to the same thing is due therapidity with which said jaws are oscillated when the sleeve isreciprocated.

1n locking the device the tongue penetrates the locking-case andreceives in one of the notches 21 the projection 27, after the head 24and latch 25 have been pushed back, but unless such projection dropsdirectly into a notch, it falls on said tongue at the right of some oneof the notches, according to the size of the prisoners wrist and theconsequent nearness of approach of the free ends of the jaws, when itbecomes necessary in order to effect the complete locking of the device,in case the jaws are not spread sufficiently during the operation ofplacing the leader on the wrist to bring the adjacent notch at the leftof the projection 27 beneath the latter, to complete the lockingoperation by pressing the members separated by the spring 22 again,slightly; immediately this is done said projection drops into placeunder the influence of the spring 28 into such formerly adjacent notch.Usually this last operation, however, is not called for, but the lockingengagement between the tongue and latch is brought about through theunwitting efforts of the prisoner himself.

It is obvious that changes in shape, size and arrangement in some or allof the parts of this device may be made without violating the spirit ofmy invention, and I desire to include in and cover by my claims whateverstructural departures from the leader herein shown and described thatmay be said to justly fall within the scope of said claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a leader, of a spindle having a handle at itsouter end, a slide mountedon such spindle, a spring encircling saidslide and arranged to thrust apart normally said handle and slide, arack sleeve in the slide arranged on the spindle to reciprocatetherewith, and jaws each having one end pivoted to the slide andprovided with a segment-gear meshing with the associated rack on saidsleeve.

2. The combination, in a leader, of a spindle having a handle at itsouter terminal, a slide mounted on such spindle, a spring encirclingsaid spindle and arranged to thrust apart normally said handle andslide, a rack sleeve in the slide arranged on the spindle to reciprocatetherewith, jaws each having one end pivoted to the slide and pro videdwith a segment-gear meshing with the associated rack on said sleeve, andmeans to positively lock the jaws when closed.

3. The combination, in a leader, with suitable jaw-supporting and-operating means, of jaws operatively connected with such means, one ofsuch jaws having a locl case at its free end and the other jaw having atongue at its free end adapted to enter said lock-case, alaterally-slidable latch pivot-ally mounted in the lock-case and adaptedto lock and release said tongue, and means of support for the latchwhereby it may be retained out of the path of the tongue.

4. The combination, in a leader, with suitable jaw-supporting and-operating means, of jaws operatively connected with such means, one ofsuch jaws having a lock-case at its free end and the other jaw having atongue at its free end adapted to enter said loelecase, a spring-pressedlatch pivotally mounted in the lockcase and arranged to slide laterallytherein, said latch being adapted to lock and release said tongue, andmeans of support for the latch whereby it may be held out of the path ofthe tongue.

5. The combination, in a leader, with suitable jawsupporting andoperating means, of jaws operatively connected with such means, one ofsuch jaws having a loclecase at its free end and the other jaw having atongue at its free end adapted to enter said lock-case, a spring-pressedlatch pivotally mounted in the lock-case and arranged to slide laterallytherein, said latch being adapted to lock and release said tongue, and alug within the locl case to receive and support the latch out of thepath of the tongue when the latch is actuated out of said path and moveson its axis longitudinally thereof into position for engage ment withthe supporting edge of said lug.

G. The combination, in a leader, with suitable jaw-supporting and-operating means, of jaws operatively connected with such means, one ofsuch jaws having a lock-case at its free end and the other jaw having atongue at its free end adapted to enter said lock-case, a pintransversely located in the lock-case, a lug at one side of thelock-case, a latch provided with a head which is revolubly and slidinglymounted on said pin and protruded through one side of the lock-case,such lat'ch being adapted to lock and release such tongue, :1 springarranged to tension said latch into engagement with said tongue, and asecond spring arranged to tension the latch toward the side of thelock-case where said lug is located, the lug being adapted to receiveand support the latch out of the path of the tongue when the latch isactuated against the resiliency of said first mentioned spring andreleased to the action 01 said second sprin 7. The combination, in aleader, with a mutually reciprocating spindle and slide, the latterbeing mounted on the former, and a handle on said spindle, of jaws eachhaving one end pivoted to the slide, a non-rotary reciprocating sleevein the slide in threaded engagement with the spindle, oscillating meansfor said jaws between the slide and the adjacent terminals of the jaws,and locking means for the free ends of the jaws, such arrangementproviding for a reciprocating movement on the part of the spindleindependent of the slide when the jaws are locked and the spindle isrotated.

, S. The combination, in a leader, with a mutually reciprocating spindleand slide, the latter being mounted on the former, a handle on suchspindle, and a spring between such handle and such slide, of jaws eachhaving one end pivoted to said slide and provided with a segment-gear, anon-rotary reciprocating rack sleeve in the slide in thread edengagement with said spindle and meshing with such segment-gears, andlocking means for the free ends 01 said jaws, such arrangement providingfor a reciprocating movement on the part of the spindle independent ofthe slide when the jaws are locked and the spindle is rotated.

.TAMES MALCOLM.

Witnesses AncI-IIBALD ,T. MALooLM, 11. A. CUTTER.

